Europe next month

[Maria]

Hi everyone,

I have a few general questions about Europe.  I used to travel there (and to Asia as well) quite often but I haven't been overseas in a few years and am wondering if anyone could help me out with restaurant tips or talk to me about their favorite international airlines.  I'm on a United or Alaska airlines flight almost every week so I very aware what those two airlines can offer me.  I have also already ordered my select wisely cards. 

Because I am flying out of Seattle and back from Europe to New York I am thinking about going with Icelander, British Air, or Lufthansa.  Though, I may take United back so I can use miles.  I've flown Lufthansa and British Air before but it has been a few years.  If anyone has any recent experience with any of those airlines or any others I haven't mentioned I would be happy to hear about it.

Destinations-I'm heading to Berlin, Amsterdam, London (and surrounding area), and maybe Dublin.  Also, if I take Icelandair I might stop there for a night or two  

Allergies-I'm allergic to all nuts except almonds, pine nuts, and macadamia nuts, shellfish, and eggs. Just to make things interesting I'm also a vegetarian.  I lived in both Germany and China and can say despite the allergies, as a vegetarian, things are easier in China 

Anyway, really looking forward to everyone's tips and recommendations .  Also quick question, last time I was in London it seemed as though many menus had a warning on it saying everything here may contain nuts.  How do people handle this?  Many of these restaurants and their menus looked perfectly safe to me. 

[GoingNuts]

Hi Maria - I haven't been to any of the places you've mentioned (going to Dublin in September!), but we were in Poland last year and FA awareness is non-existent there.  We had chef cards translated into Polish, and everyone just looked at them blankly.  Fortunately, with the exception of desserts, nuts and sesame are not widely used in food there.    I do believe awareness is greater in Great Britain.

Have fun and stay safe!

[spacecanada]

Icelandair was great at accommodating my food allergies, not serving any nuts onboard (they only had one item with nuts and they removed it from the carts), and allowing me to bring an extra bag of medical supplies. Be sure to contact them well in advance as they require a medical note to provide accommodations.

I had a terrible experience with United so I wouldn't recommend them, as they told me one thing and did another.  If you fly with them often you should be fine, I would guess.

My experience in Scandinavia at least is that nuts were still present, especially almonds. Peanuts were rare to see on anything.  Granted, I never ventured into the bakeries and mostly stuck to high end restaurants we contacted well in advance about accommodations. My parents said that peanuts and sesame were easy to avoid in most European cities they visited but tree nuts would be challenging.

High end restaurants in Finland were easily able to accommodate my allergies and vegan diet.  A local custom pizza place was also very accommodating when I explained my allergies and made me something safe to eat.

London is in the UK, which has recently introduced stricter allergy labelling and protocols in restaurants.  Alas, there are still many allergic reactions being reported in the news.  Stay away from takeaway and any ethnic restaurants, as their shared kitchens and imported ingredients aren't ideal for people with allergies.  I don't have any specific restaurant recommendations as we haven't been to London, but if you stick with high end restaurants and dine at quieter times, they should be able to accommodate you there.  I still recommend calling ahead and talking to the Chef if you can.

[CMdeux]

Oddly enough, we had reasonably good success with DD's allergies and mine at pub-style establishments, both in Dublin and London.  She is nut and egg allergic and I'm shellfish-allergic.

Yes, chef cards were useful, certainly.  As far as I can tell, if you aren't hazelnut or egg allergic, street food in Paris is relatively safe, as well-- though obviously check sauces and XC.

Airlines... ehhhhhh-- we flew Aer Lingus, which was safe enough as far as we could tell, though we did have a rather hellish pre-boarding experience with a dragon-esque gate agent in Chicago.  Ahem.

Air Canada was our carrier back to Vancouver BC, and they were not... at all... with it.  Another passenger was openly hostile, even threatening, and AC had had DD's information, they have her on file as having a peanut allergy, etc. etc. we reminded them at Heathrow during check in... no matter.  Flight crew was STILL unaware until I told them-- when we were airborne over the northern suburbs of London...   (after the ever-so-kind "gentleman" next to us sneered at my daughter and threatened her re: her PA).